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QUINCY, ILL. -- Cooking Fires:

Statistics show firefighters respond to about three times the daily average of cooking fires on Thanksgiving.  You can prevent many of those calls by taking a few easy steps to avoid home cooking fires this Thursday.

Keep your cooking appliances clean of grease build-up which can easily ignite.

Covering a small grease fire with a lid is usually the most effective and safest method of controlling the fire.  Also do not try to carry a pan that is on fire because it can ignite clothes or spill, causing severe burns.

In case of a fire inside an oven, turn off the heat and leave the door closed to cut off the fire's air supply.

And use extra caution when using turkey fryers due to higher risk of tipping over, overheating or spilling hot oil, leading to fires and burns.

It's also a good time to make sure your smoke detectors are working correctly.

Turkey Fryers:

If you do choose to use a turkey fryer, don't skip safety steps. Keep three things in mind: follow the instructions, don't overfill your pot with grease, and don't leave the fryer unattended.

Make sure to place turkey fryers outside on level concrete surfaces and not on asphalt.

Keep the fryers away from homes.

Remember to never throw water on oil fires. Use a fire extinguisher.

And always keep children away from these appliances.

Click here to read more turkey tips from the Illinois Department of Public Health.